When it was the third day, the third Wazir came in to the king and said
to him, “O king, delay not the matter of this youth, because his deed
hath caused us fall into the mouths of folk, and it behoveth that thou
slay him forthright, that the talk may be cut from us and it be not
said:—The king saw on his bed a man with his wife and spared him.” The
king was chagrined by these words and bade bring the youth. Accordingly,
they fetched him in fetters, and indeed the king’s anger was upstirred
against him by the Minister’s speech and he was troubled; so he said to
him, “O base of birth, thou hast dishonoured us and marred our mention,
and needs must I do away thy life from the world.” Quoth the youth, “O
king, make use of patience in all thine affairs, so wilt thou win to thy
wish, for that Allah Almighty hath appointed the issue of long-suffering
to be in abounding good, and indeed by patience Abú Sábir ascended from
the pit and sat down upon the throne.” Asked the king, “Who was Abu
Sábir, and what is his tale?” and the youth answered, saying, “Hear
thou, O king,
_THE STORY OF ABU SABIR_.”
There was once a man, a village headman,[165] Abu Sabir hight, and he
had much black cattle and a buxom wife, who had borne him two sons. They
abode in a certain hamlet and there used to come thither a lion and rend
and devour Abu Sabir’s herd, so that the most part thereof was wasted
and his wife said to him one day, “This lion hath wasted the greater
part of our property. Arise, mount thy horse and take thy host and do
thy best to kill him, so we may be at rest from him.” But Abu Sabir
said, “Have patience, O woman, for the issue of patience is praised.
This lion it is which transgresseth against us, and the transgressor,
perforce must Almighty Allah destroy him. Indeed, ’tis our
long-suffering that shall slay him,[166] and he that doth evil needs
must it recoil upon him.” A few days after, the king went forth one
morning to hunt and falling in with the lion, he and his host, gave
chase to him and ceased not pursuit till they slew him. This news
reached Abu Sábir who improved the occasion to his wife, “Said I not to
thee, O woman, that whoso doth evil, it shall recoil upon him? Haply an
I sought to slay the lion myself, I had not prevailed against him, and
this is the issue of patience.” It befel, after this, that a man was
slain in Abu Sabir’s village; wherefore the Sultan bade plunder the
village, and they spoiled the patient one’s goods with the rest.
Thereupon his wife said to him, “All the king’s officers know thee; so
do thou prefer thy plaint to the sovran, that he may bid thy beasts to
be restored to thee.” But he said to her, “O woman, said I not to thee
that he who worketh wrong shall be wronged? Indeed, the king hath done
evil, and right soon he shall suffer the issues of his deed, for whoso
taketh the goods of the folk, needs must his goods be taken.” A man of
his neighbours heard his speech, and he was an envier of his; so he went
to the Sultan and acquainted him therewith, whereupon the king sent and
plundered all the rest of his goods and drave him forth from the
village, and his wife and family with him. They went wandering in the
waste grounds about the hamlet and his wife said to him, “All that hath
befallen us cometh of thy slowness in affairs and thy helplessness.” But
he said to her, “Have patience, for the issue of patience is good.” Then
they walked on a little way, and thieves met them and despoiling them of
whatso remained with them, stripped them of their raiment and took from
them the two children; whereupon the woman wept and said to her husband,
“Hearkye, my good man, put away from thee this folly and up with us to
follow the thieves, so, peradventure they may have compassion on us and
restore the children to us.” He replied, “O woman, have patience, for he
who doth evil shall be requited with evil and his frowardness shall
revert upon him. Were I to follow them, belike one of them would take
his sword and smite my neck and slay me; but have patience, for the
issue of patience is praised.” Then they fared on till they made a
village[167] in the land of Kirman, and by it a river of water; so the
man said to his wife, “Tarry thou here, whilst I enter the village and
look us out a place wherein we may home ourselves.” And he left her by
the water and entered the village. Presently, up came a horseman in
quest of water, wherewith to water his horse: he saw the woman and she
was pleasing in his eyes; so quoth he to her, “Arise, mount with me and
I will take thee to wife and entreat thee kindly.” Quoth she, “Spare me,
so may Allah spare thee! Indeed I have a husband.” But he drew his
dudgeon and said to her, “An thou obey me not, I will smite thee and
slay thee.” When she saw his frowardness, she wrote on the ground in the
sand with her finger, saying, “O Abu Sabir, thou hast not ceased to be
patient, till thy good is gone from thee and thy children and now thy
wife, who was more precious in thy sight than everything and than all
thy monies, and indeed thou abidest in thy sorrow the whole of thy life
long, so thou mayest see what thy patience will profit thee.” Then the
horseman took her, and setting her behind him, went his way. As for Abu
Sabir, when he returned, he saw not his wife but he read what was writ
upon the ground, wherefore he wept and sat awhile sorrowing. Then said
he to himself, “O Abu Sabir, it behoveth thee to be patient, for haply
there shall betide thee an affair yet sorer than this and more
grievous;” and he went forth a-following his face,[168] like to one
love-distraught and passion-madded, till he came to a gang of labourers
working upon the palace of the king, by way of forced labour.[169] When
the overseers saw him, they laid hold of him and said to him, “Work thou
with these folk at the palace of the king; else we will imprison thee
for life.” So he fell to working with them as a labourer and every day
they gave him a bannock of bread. He wrought with them a month’s space,
till it chanced that one of the labourers mounted a ladder and falling,
brake his leg; whereupon he cried out and shed tears. Quoth Abu Sabir to
him, “Have patience and weep not; for in thine endurance thou shalt find
ease.” But the man said to him, “How long shall I have patience?” And he
answered, saying, “Long-suffering bringeth a man forth of the bottom of
the pit and seateth him on the throne of the kingdom.” It so fortuned
that the king was seated at the lattice, hearkening to their talk, and
Abu Sabir’s words angered him for the moment; wherefore he bade bring
him before him and they brought him forthright. Now there was in the
king’s palace an underground dungeon and therein a vast silo[170] and a
deep, into which the king caused cast Abu Sabir, saying to him, “O
little of wit, soon shall we see how thou wilt come forth of the pit to
the throne of the kingdom.” Then he used continuously to come and stand
at the mouth of the pit and say, “O little of wit, O Abu Sabir,[171] I
see thee not come forth of the pit and sit down on the king’s throne!”
And he assigned him each day two bannocks of bread, whilst Abu Sabir
kept silence and spake not, but patiently bore whatso betided him. Now
the king had a brother, whom he had imprisoned in that pit of old time,
and he had died there; but the folk of the realm deemed him still alive,
and when his durance grew long, the courtiers of the king used to talk
of this and of the tyranny of their liege Lord, and the bruit spread
abroad that the sovran was a tyrant, so they fell upon him one day and
slew him. Then they sought the silo and brought out therefrom Abu Sabir,
deeming him the king’s brother, for that he was the nearest of folk to
him in favour and the likest, and he had been long in the pit. So they
doubted not but that he was the Prince and said to him, “Reign thou in
thy brother’s room, for we have slain him and thou art sovran in his
stead.” But Abu Sabir was silent and spoke not a word;[172] and he knew
that this was the result of his patience. Then he arose and sitting down
on the king’s throne, donned the royal dress and dispensed justice and
equity, and affairs prospered; wherefore the lieges obeyed him and the
subjects inclined to him and many were his soldiers. Now the king, who
erst had plundered Abu Sabir’s goods and driven him forth of his
village, had an enemy; and the foe mounted horse against him and
overcame him and captured his capital; wherefore he betook him to flight
and came to Abu Sabir’s city, craving support of him and seeking that he
should succour him. He knew not that the king of the city was the
headman whom he had spoiled; so he presented himself before him and made
complaint to him; but Abu Sabir knew him and said to him, “This is
somewhat of the issue of patience. Allah the Most High hath given me
power over thee.” Then he commanded his guards to plunder the unjust
king and his suite; so they spoiled them and stripping them of their
clothes, put them forth of his country. When Abu Sabir’s troops saw
this, they marvelled and said, “What be this deed the king doth? There
cometh a king to him, craving protection, and he spoileth him! This is
not the fashion of kings.” But they dared not speak of this. Presently,
news came to the king of highwaymen in his land; so he set out in quest
of them and ceased not to follow after them, till he seized on them all,
and behold, they were the very thieves who had plundered him and his
wife by the way and had carried off his children. Accordingly he bade
bring them before him, and when they came into his presence, he
questioned them, saying, “Where are the two boys ye took on such a day?”
Said they, “They are with us and we will present them to our lord the
king for Mamelukes to serve him and give him wealth galore that we have
gotten together and doff all we own and repent from lawlessness and
fight in thy service.” Abu Sabir, however, paid no heed to their words,
and seized all their good and bade put them all to death. Furthermore,
he took his two boys and rejoiced in them with exceeding joy, whereat
the troops murmured among themselves, saying, “Verily, this is a greater
tyrant than his brother! There cometh to him a gang of thieves, and they
seek to repent and proffer two boys by way of peace-offering, and he
taketh the two lads and all their good and slayeth them! Indeed this be
violent oppression.” After this came the horseman, who had seized Abu
Sabir’s wife, and complained of her to the king that she would not give
him possession of her person, and solemnly declared that she was his
wife. The king bade bring her before him, that he might hear her plea
and pronounce judgment upon her. So the horseman came with her before
him, and when the king saw her, he knew her and taking her from her
ravisher, bade put him to death. Then he became aware of the troops,
that they murmured against him and spake of him as a tyrant; so he
turned to his courtiers and ministers and said to them, “As for me, by
Allah of All-might,[173] I am not the king’s brother! Nay, I am but one
whom the king imprisoned upon a word he heard from me and he used every
day to come and taunt me therewith. Ye deem me the king’s brother; but I
am Abu Sabir and the Lord hath given me the kingship in virtue of my
patience. As for the king who sought protection of me and I plundered
him, ’twas he who first wronged me, for that he plundered me aforetime
and drave me forth of my native land and banished me, without due cause;
wherefore I requited him with that which he had done to me, in the way
of lawful retribution. As for the highwaymen who proffered repentance,
there was no repentance for them with me, because they began upon me
with foul dealing and waylaid me by the road and despoiled me and seized
my good and my sons, the two boys that I took of them, and those ye
deemed Mamelukes are my very sons; so I avenged myself on the thieves of
that which they did with me whilome and requited them with strict
justice. As for the horseman whom I slew, this woman I took from him was
my wife and he seized her by force, but Allah the Most High hath
restored her to me; so this was my right, and my deed that I have done
was righteous, albeit ye, judging by the externals of the matter, deemed
that I had done this by way of tyranny.” When the folk heard these
words, they marvelled and fell prostrate before him; and they redoubled
in esteem for him and exceeding affection and sued pardon of him,
admiring that which Allah had done with him and how He had given him the
kingship by reason of his longsuffering and his patience and how he had
raised himself by his endurance from the bottom of the pit to the throne
of the kingdom, what while Allah cast down the late king from the throne
into the pit.[174] Then Abu Sabir foregathered with his wife and said to
her, “How deemest thou of the fruit of patience and its sweetness and
the fruit of haste and its bitterness? Verily, all that a man doth of
good and evil, he shall assuredly encounter the same.” “On like wise, O
king” (continued the young treasurer), “it besitteth thee to practise
patience, whenever it is possible to thee, for that longsuffering is the
wont of the noble, and it is the chiefest of their reliance, especially
for kings.” When the king heard this from the youth, his wrath subsided;
so he bade return him to the prison, and the folk dispersed that day.
The Fourth Day.